1 Cancelled flight.
2 Missed connections.
3 Nights in a hotel.
4 Days Late.
My journey to Ghana was anything but easy. Everything I imagined could go wrong seemed to go wrong. Ever since I was accepted into this incredible program, I have been extremely nervous about the trip. As one of the younger participants, I had feelings of self-doubt in my ability to perform in a professional setting as well as navigate in a foreign city. Because of these ambivalent feelings, when my flight was initially cancelled I couldn’t help but feel some relief. The next day, twenty-nine hours later, I found myself stranded in Texas. Thirty-four hours later I missed another connection and was stuck in London for another four hours, then re-routed through Morocco. Once in Morocco I was waited for six hours before finally taking off and landing in Accra at six a.m. on July 2nd, around three days after I was originally supposed to touch down in Ghana. But these unexpected changes to my travel itinerary were not entirely in vain.
Despite the numerous roadblocks, I was relieved and proud I had gone all the way around the world to get to Ghana. If it weren’t for my cancelled flight, I would never have experienced sitting next to a Texan man who drank airplane sized Jack Daniels in one gulp and chewed tobacco and liquor filled chocolates. If it weren’t for missing my first connection I would never have witnessed the parents of a young differently abled child attempt to explain to him how airplanes work. If it weren’t for my reroute through Morocco I wouldn’t have met a single mother attempting to travel with five young children alone. Throughout those four days of travel I grew as an individual and matured more than I have in the past year. Despite being nervous and anxious due to the changes in my trip, it was incredibly humbling to be alone in foreign airports soaking in all the culture, Texas-culture included.
While in London-Heathrow I saw a sign that was labeled something like “multi-faith prayer room.” While understandably I was in one of the largest international airport hubs in the world, I was intrigued that there was a singular prayer room for everyone to worship in. While I did not go inside out of respect for those already worshipping, I found it to be a beautiful concept imagining Muslim, Hindu, Christian and other religious peoples all in prayer together as one.
Despite my original feelings of ambivalence, I arrived in Ghana ready to take on everything this beautiful country has to offer. With my nerves somewhat residing, I was welcomed into the Aya Centre lovingly as a friend.
